Ladies and Gentlemen. The story you are about to see is fiction. The names have been changed...well, I'm not sure why we would change the names since the story is fictional. But we did so let's move on. The day of the week, Tuesday, the best day of the week. The time, sometime that day. The name just happens to be Tuesday, Sam Tuesday. I work the music beat with my partner Bob Gaudioso.
It was a cool Spring morning and the sun was shining everywhere but in the recesses of the mind. We had gotten a call about the possibility of some illegal use of the hands and were sent to investigate. When we arrived, we witnessed a scene that can only be described as horrendous. Two executives, both female, were engaged in finalizing a business deal and they...were shaking hands!!! What's worse is they embraced as they were about to say goodbye! We queried as to why they would take such steps in the environment in which we live, both replied without missing a beat..."We are after all sisters and we wanted to launch our business relationship with a little of that human touch..."
We separated the sisters and began our interrogation. I totally understood the whole sisters act, but the rest of their reply seemed vague at best. My response to the sister I questioned? "Just the facts ma'am, just the facts". Bob seemed to make
more headway with the other suspect. She told him that Randy Jackson (Original American Idol Judge) played bass and Jeff Porcaro (founding member of Toto (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Hold the Line" (Toto), Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Africa" (Toto)), played drums on the album recording of the Bruce Springsteen song, "Human Touch". Not sure what this had to do with their hugging and handshaking, but realizing that Bob was getting somewhere, I stepped back and listened as she spilled all the details. "The song peaked at #16 on Billboard's Hot 100 and was the first single to be released from the album of the same name. Gaudioso and I were begining to get a feeling that there was something she wasn't telling us, so he stepped up the pressure. " Girl ain't no kindness in the face of strangers. Ain't gonna find no miracles here. Well you can wait on your blessings darlin' but I got a deal for you right here". She replied, "I ain't lookin' for prayers or pity. I ain't comin' 'round searchin' for a crutch. I just want someone to talk to and a little of that human touch. Just a little of that human touch." "Bob", I said, "You just broke the case and got a confession!" "Even though something doesn't seem quite right, Book 'em both!" And that's how it ended. All that was left was to do the paperwork on the Case of the Hugs and Handshakes.
The case of the Hugs and Handshakes may seem a bit extreme, at least it would have not too long ago, but today we are faced with serious consequences for seeking a little of that human touch. I confess to you that I am a hugger, hand-shaker, pat'em on the back kind of guy. But in the spirit of keeping myself and everyone around me safe and healthy, I have abstained from any human touch since the outbreak began. We have all transitioned the ways that we interact with each other and some of those ways we now interact may be permanent. In fact, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House's expert on the virus has said that we should never shake hands again. White House advisor Dr. Fauci says handshaking needs to stop even when pandemic ends—other experts agree by Jade Sipioni for CNBC.com It is amazing how well social distancing (a phrase of which I am quickly tiring), working and schooling from home as well as other means of being separated have caused the pandemic to be less severe than anticipated. While Dr. Fauci's remarks are directed towards a tradition (shaking hands), is there something that he is missing when he makes a blank statement such as this?
In recent years, it seems that inappropriate touch has been a hot button topic. Laws have been enacted and corporations have created rules to insure the safety of female as well as male employees. Schools teachers and coaches, leaders at religious institutions, and adults involved in scouting have all come under scrutiny for behavior towards students that should never be condoned by anyone. While these actions aren't new (look at Greek and Roman cultures as one example) they are a blight on our world and are a result of the brokenness experienced at the fall of man in Genesis. While these things are agreeably bad, have we swung the pendulum so far in the correctiveness direction that we are causing ourselves another kind of harm?
The benefits of human touch can be very interesting. If you do an internet search you will find an assortment of author's posts regarding the topic. Here is one: Health Benefits of Human Touch March 18th, 2014 by Loretta Lanphier, NP, CN, CH, HHP, Oasis Advanced Wellness Health This article and others suggest that touching can be very health beneficial. From the time you are born until you are advanced in age, an appropriate touch by another human being can be just what the doctor ordered.
A more authoritative resource is the Bible. In the Old Testament especially, we find the Rabbinic laws concerning touching the "unclean". Here is one example:
However, in the New Testament we see an different law given. Jesus comes onto the scene and as he goes about preaching the Good News about Himself, He touches many people and provides healing for their physical bodies as well as an eternal healing for their soul. These healings and illegal use of the hands are part of what drew the attention of the religious leaders of the day. Jesus was accused of breaking those laws, when what He was really doing was providing restoration for the broken.
The remainder of the New Testament contains passage after passage of where Jesus' followers touched and healed folks. There might just be something to this touch thing after all.
"You might need somethin' to hold on to. When all the answers they don't amount to much. Somebody that you can just talk to
And a little of that human touch."
A former company that I worked for employed a strategy called Quality Service Everytime, QSE for short. The idea was that we were not going to enforce a rule against 99% of our clientele when only 1% would attempt to take advantage. Do our current attitudes with regards to touch, pandemic and harassment aside, protect against the 1% who would violate decency? Is our germaphobia costing us a health benefit we may not even know we can have? Are we withholding good from others by being too much of an introvert?
I confess that I disagree with Dr. Fauci. Handshakes are a good thing. An appropriate hug is a good thing. A pat on the back for a job well done is a good thing. Let's please remember that when all of this is over, and it will be over or at least managed, we all may need to share a little of that human touch...and those are the facts, just the facts.
'Til Tuesday,
Serving HIM by serving You,
randy
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